Section: Cyprus Mail (Cyprus)
Iran says nuclear deal depends on lifting of sanctions
By Parisa Hafezi and Sam Wilkin Iran said on Wednesday it would only accept a deal over its contested nuclear programme if world powers simultaneously lifted all sanctions imposed on it. The comments by President Hassan Rouhani came the day after US President Barack Obama was forced to give Congress a say in any future accord – including the...
New UN site for flights in conflict zones issues warnings on Libya, Egypt
A new United Nations website distributing warnings about risks to aircraft in conflict zones issued its first advisories on Wednesday, for countries including Libya, Iraq, Egypt and South Sudan. The website was set up after the downing of a Malaysian passenger aircraft over an area of fighting in Ukraine last year and is hosted by the UN’s...
Six servicemen killed as violence escalates in east Ukraine
Six servicemen were killed and 12 wounded in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours despite a ceasefire deal, Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday, as both sides in the conflict accused the other of increasing attacks and building up weapons on the frontline. The mutual recriminations have put further strain on a two-month-old truce between...
Statue row blots Mandela’s post-apartheid vision for South Africa
By Wendell Roelf South Africa’s University of Cape Town will remove a statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes on Thursday, a symbolic step that exposes persistent racial divides two decades after the end of apartheid. The statue at the university, one of Africa’s top academic institutions, has been covered up for the past few weeks...
Iran’s Khamenei says neither rejects, accepts nuclear deal, details key (Updated)
By Parisa Hafezi Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday demanded that all sanctions on Iran be lifted at the same time as any final agreement with world powers on curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme is concluded. Khamenei, the Islamic Republic’s most powerful figure and who has the last say on all state matters, was...
Eurozone sets Greece reform deadline ahead of IMF repayment (Updated)
By Jan Strupczewski and George Georgiopoulos Eurozone partners set Greece a deadline of six working days to improve proposed economic reforms in time for finance ministers to consider some emergency funding to keep the country afloat after it makes a repayment to the IMF on Thursday. EU officials said Athens made an urgent plea for cash at a...
Czech government plans to register citizens for military service
By Robert Muller The Czech government plans to create a register of citizens who could be called up for military service, in response to growing concerns over threats from Islamic State and insecurity in Ukraine, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Thursday. Sobotka said the move would not amount to the reintroduction of compulsory military...
Athens has not asked for money from Moscow (Updated)
By Renee Maltezou Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras began talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday as his indebted country scrambles for funds, but officials said Athens had not asked for money from Moscow. Greece owes billions of euros in debt and interest payments and is looking for funds after failing so far to reach a deal...
A region burns amid lack of leadership and old hatreds
By Farid Mirbagheri The Middle East is aflame with war, carnage and instability. Syria is ceaselessly ravaged by a devastating civil war, where longevity and stalemate have somewhat mitigated the horror of the tragedy in the eyes of the world media. Iraq, beleaguered by violence for over a decade, is fighting ISIL to reassert its sovereignty and...
Ukraine expects to sign gas memorandum with Russia by April 14
By Alessandra Prentice Ukraine, locked in a longstanding pricing row with Russia over gas, hopes to sign a memorandum with Moscow on supplies that will run until the end of March 2016, its energy minister said on Wednesday. Russia and its ex-Soviet neighbour agreed last year on a “winter package” for supplies with a price discount of $100 per...
